What's the point of the exposure function on the Fz5? It only changes the lighting for the "live" screen, not for the pictures taken, The light is unchanged no matter how much exposure I put on or take off...?:?:

It seems that you make something wrong or the camera is defect. The exposure compensation change the shutter speed when the image is taken. Set the exposure to +1 or -1 to see the difference (1/3 is a small change and its possible that you miss the difference)

Turn on the auto-bracketing function by using the top button of the four-way controller on the back of the camera. Set the autobracket amount to 1/3 and when you view the 3 pictures it takes, you will see a clear difference in each of them.

The first one will be the exposure the camera would normally choose.
#2 will be lighter and #3 will be darker than the original.